The World Always Claims That It Wants to See

Fifth Sunday of Easter

April 24, 2016

John 16:5-15

The World Always Claims That It Wants to See

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

It was a strange sight. Hundreds of pastors were yelling at the sky. They were dancing around a pile of stones with a dead bull on top. Then it got really stranger. The pastors started taking knives and cutting themselves, not fatally, but clearly painful and messy. They shouted, danced, and slashed all day long, but there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

This scene is from 1 Kings 18. It is the incident on Mt. Carmel. The prophet of the true God, Elijah, challenged the people of God, the Israelites, to a contest. Whosoever's god sent fire down from the sky to burn up their altar sacrifice was the real god. Then the people of God would see that the real god was the Lord, and not the pagan statue called Baal.

The prophets of Baal would be most similar to pastors today, so I described them as pastors. However, their behavior is not something I or any other pastor that I know has performed.

These prophets who shouted, danced, and slashed themselves thought their performances would win the attention of their god. But their statue god Baal was only a figment of their sinful imagination. No fire came down from the sky.

But when Elijah prayed in the evening, the Lord God immediately consumed Elijah's altar with burning fire. Here was a science experiment in full swing. Hypothesis: Real Gods can send down fire from heaven. And now this hypothesis was tested. And the results of this empirical test were conclusive.

The world always claims to want to see proof that God exists. But when confronted with the truth, the world proves that it is blind and unable to see the Truth, even when it's right there in front of their eyes.

The strange day on Mt. Carmel had begun with Elijah calling on his countrymen to decide which god to worship, but by the end of the day, after seeing the clear evidence of the true God, they rejected Him.

God's prophet was quite sure that he was all alone.

A thousand years later Jesus warned His disciples that they would feel quite sure that they were all alone when He ascended to heaven to sit at the Father's right hand.

“But now I am going away to Him who sent Me, and not one of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ Yet, because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. (John 16:5-6 HCSB)

Jesus was telling His disciples that after He was put to death, He would be raised from the dead, but after that He would be with them for long. He would returning to His Father's right hand in heaven. Jesus anticipated that His disciples would think that they would be all alone. So He told them that they would never be alone; He was sending the Holy Spirit to comfort them with His promises for the rest of their lives.

When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. (John 16:13 HCSB)

The Holy Spirit does tell us the truth for He tells us about Jesus. He also tells us what is going to happen: that Jesus will continue to forgive us and our sins. So we are never alone.

Elijah thought he was alone, because the Lord never left Him. The Lord fed him and spoke to him and in the end, He took Elijah home to heaven.

There are times when we think we are alone, but the Lord never leaves us, either. The Lord feeds us as He does today, He speaks to us, and in the end, we know the future: He will take us home to heaven.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Alleluia! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

The Lord Calls Pastors for His Church

Fourth Sunday of Easter

April 17, 2016

1 Corinthians 12:28

The Lord Calls Pastors for His Church

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

I got the phone call on a Wednesday night. It was Norm and he was calling to tell me that this congregation, Gethsemane Lutheran Church, was calling me to be her next pastor. Several weeks later on a Sunday morning I announced to my congregation in Michigan and I believe Norm announced to you that I had decided to accept the Call to serve as Gethsemane's pastor.

What happened in those weeks between that Wednesday night and that Sunday morning? How does a pastor decide whether to stay at his current congregation or leave to shepherd another flock?

First of all, the Lord is the One who gives pastors to His congregations. Secondly, the pastor has the responsibility to decide what to do. And finally, the Lord will bless whatever decision is made. That is His promise.

So first of all, Jesus is the One who gives us pastors. Paul lays out why Jesus sends out preachers clearly in Romans 10:

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? (Romans 10:13-15a NIV)

God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers. (1 Corinthians 12:28a NIV)

Jesus places into His church apostles, prophets, and teachers. The apostles and prophets speak to us still in the New and Old Testaments, which collectively is Holy Scripture. Teachers in this context are the pastors sent into the churches to explain that these Scriptures are all about death and resurrection, above all, Christ's death and His rising from death.

In these days the Lord still creates life and little baby boys are born. He gives them a family to take care of them and somewhere along the way that boy grows up, after considering being a submariner, a journalist, an electrician, settles on pursuing the office of holy ministry. He wants to be a pastor.

In our circles that young man goes to college, learns about people through the study of history and philosophy, reading and discussing literature. He studies foreign languages, bonds with his future pastors, and through it all, receives the Lord's true body and blood for the forgiveness of his many sins.

He is graduated from college and moves on to the seminary, the school for pastors. (Our seminary is in a town just north of Milwaukee.) He learns more about the order Jesus gives to His pastors: to preach His cross as the cause of salvation and the crosses of their future parishioners as the results of salvation. He learns how to teach, which is very different from preaching, but these two skills are two sides of the same “hearing the message” that Jesus gives through His pastors. Paul wrote:

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. (Romans 10:17 NIV)

The young man is graduated from the seminary and sent out by our national church body to serve as a pastor of a congregation.

The seen part of this sending is the calling body of our national church body, the Wisconsin Synod. A group of 12 pastors who serve the 12 different regions of the United States gather every spring to pick places to send these new pastors. And this year, on May 19, 2,000 people will gather in the seminary auditorium (with many more live streaming) and hear where these men will be sent.

The unseen part of this process is the work of God the Holy Spirit. Our dear Lord, who is in control of all things for the benefit of His baptized children, guides this calling process and the Church trusts that the decisions made will be blessed by Him.

After being sent out by the Holy Spirit through His Church, that summer these new pastors and their families will move into their new homes and new congregations. These men will be ordained as pastors in a special church service, usually in July. Then they will begin preaching and teaching.

For a few pastors this new home is where they will spend 40 years taking care of the souls of his people. Then he will retire and move away. Then what?

The church has to ask for a new pastor. The pastor who serves their region of the country drives over and a special meeting is held. The pastor has a list of four or five pastors in other parts of the country, who are currently serving other churches. At the end of the meeting, the men vote to call one of these pastors to be their new pastor. Then someone from the congregation calls him and tells him about their decision.

So then the pastor has the responsibility to decide what to do. He has to decide to stay or go. He will pray for guidance from the Lord, but in the end, the decision is the pastor's.

Take note: Just because something happens doesn't mean we can say that it was “the Lord's will”. The Lord's will is revealed in Scripture and the Scripture says nothing about the specifics of Pastor Kookabura deciding to take a Call to Kokomo. The pastor should not try to climb into God's brain to find out what God wants him to do; rather the pastor will simply try to make the best decision possible.

How does he decide? What factors should he consider?

He will look at his current Call to his current congregation and compare that with the new Call to his potentially new congregation. Does he have unfinished business in the current church, for example, a building project that they are in the middle of? Will he be a pastor working with another pastor at the new church? How often do the different churches offer Services and Communion and Bible Study? How do they bring new souls into the spiritual care of the congregation? Is prayer in the home a priority or does more teaching need to take place? Do they understand a broad understand of “evangelism” or a narrow one? Is the church mindset interested in fitting in with the culture or to the Lutheran Confessions? Do they even know what that means?

But along with these doctrinal and practical questions, there are other questions that are just as important. Where would his kids go to school? Where would his family live? How far away is the hospital, dentist, grocery store, library, and post office? What does his wife think he should do? His kids? His current members?

There are hundreds of other questions to consider, but you can see that deciding whether to take a Call to a new church is in many ways similar to most other job offers. There are many practical questions that need to be answered, many of the same questions that you'd ask when weighing job opportunities.

One difference is that with most jobs, you have to put your CV or resume out to employers and then go and interview before they'll make you an offer. And secondly, once the Call is sent to you, it's yours if you want it. So in a way, you do the interview with the congregation, the pastor, the president, the elders, and others after you have the job. When you have a Call, you really have two jobs simultaneously.

But there is one question that makes this process, not more special, but certainly unique: “Where can I do the most good for the Church, by staying where I am or by accepting the Call that I have received?” (Irwin Habeck, The Divine Call, 1974)

And so after a period of conversation with those at the current congregation and the new congregation (as a rule of thumb, usually three to five weeks), the pastor makes his decision. As he announces his decision, he is wise, as noted above, to leave out any talk of his decision being the Lord's will. God did not whisper into his ear and tell him what to do.

God did, however, give him trust in the promises of Scripture and a sound mind to make wise decisions. It can be tempting for a pastor who has decided to move to the new congregation to place the emphasis that he thinks this is what God wants him to do; it is wiser to simply make a decision and take responsibility for it.

And finally, the Lord will bless whatever decision is made. That is His promise to His congregations and pastors.

This unique process is something I am working through now. I have accepted the Call to serve as your shepherd here at Gethsemane. I also have the Call to serve as a pastor of Morrison Zion Lutheran Church in Morrison, Wisconsin, a little south of Green Bay.

Trust that our dear Lord will bless whatever decision I make, whether I stay or go. I invite your questions and comments about this matter and invite you to pray to the Lord to bless both Gethsemane and Zion congregations, their people, and their pastors.

One last thing: at times congregations can think when a pastor says no to the offered Call that they have done something wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth! The pastor simply judged that his decision was the best thing for him, his family, and his congregations.

No matter what decision I make, I trust the Gospel will continue to preached among you and the Lord's Supper offered for your comfort, especially if I decide to stay.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Alleluia! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

Dying Makes the Shepherd Good

Third Sunday of Easter

April 10, 2016

John 10:14-15

Dying Makes the Shepherd Good

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Shepherding isn't just for sheep; it's for people, too. And there are lots of people who want to shepherd you. Parents want to lead you to how you should live. Politicians want to lead you to vote for them. Pastors want to lead you to join their church.

And if the parent, candidate, or pastor is charming and possibly funny, you are more likely to follow them. Thus, shepherds who make you feel good are usually shepherds with lots of sheep. On the contrary, shepherds who tell the truth usually have smaller flocks, because telling the truth can often lead to bad feelings.

What kind of shepherd is Jesus? He makes you feel good; He also tells the truth. But what sets Him apart from all other shepherds isn't how He makes you feel or that He tells the truth. He's exceptional because He died.

Jesus explained:

¹⁴“I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me—¹⁵just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father—and I lay down My life for the sheep. (John 15:14-15 NIV 1984)

There are lots of shepherds out there. Some have good intentions; others don't. Most of these wouldn't be willing to die for you. But some might. There are people who are alive right now because someone laid down their life to save them. But those survivors still will die. With these sacrifices of these noble shepherds, death has only been postponed.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd because He laid down His life and Death wasn't postponed; it was defeated. Jesus' death is the basis for Him to kill and drown us in Holy Baptism. He killed you and raised you back to life. Death and resurrection through His death and resurrection.

We are told not to judge. Many of have bought that lie, hook, line, and sinker. Others of us tend to be too harsh in our judgments. But whether you consciously think that judging yourself or others is good or bad, we are all do it. Our culture of consumerism demands it. When you buy stuff, what are you doing? Judging things. (We accommodate to our culture much more than we'd like to admit.)

Our consumer mind-set isn't limited to things. We judge people: parents, teachers, politicians, and pastors, and everyone else. We tend to judge these people based on how they make us feel, just like how we choose a toothpaste or a television.

I hope we can agree that parenting without boundaries is harmful to the best interests of children. I hope we can agree that policitians who say whatever the crowd in front of them wants them to say is harmful to good government. And I hope we can agree that pastors who preach the good news of sins forgiven by Christ without the terrible truth of our sinfulness is harmful to Christians.

Christ laid down His life for you not because nobody's perfect and we all make mistakes. He had to laid down His life, not because we are passive victims, but because it is our fault. We are actively sinning sheep, rapidly trying to make excuses for ourselves and steadfastly blaming others for our sins.

We often picture the Good Shepherd with a sheep across His shoulders. This is good, but don't let this picture distract you from how He is shepherding you today. In His mercy, Christ takes the blame for our sin upon Himself. The Good Shepherd who filled up the wooden cross with His body, who emptied the tomb with His resurrection, and now today shepherds you by filling up the cup of communion with His blood. He shepherds you by placing His body upon this altar and placing Himself into your mouth for the forgiveness of your sin.

This is our Good Shepherd. He died, He rose. And so have you.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Alleluia! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus Fills Up Half-Empty Thomas

Second Sunday of Easter

April 3, 2016

John 20:19-31

Jesus Fills Up Half-Empty Thomas*

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Thomas always expected the worst to happen. This is rather sensible, but often not not very helpful. When Jesus told His disciples that He was going to a town where many of His worst enemies lived, Thomas shrugged his shoulders and said, “I suppose we had better go along and get ourselves killed, too.” This is a worldly wisdom in that. Expect the worst, and you'll be prepared for it.

You know Thomas. You know someone like him. Maybe he is you. Are you the kind of person that sees someone else lying in bed with a broken leg and you say, “Well, it could have been worse.”

It has to be said that the other extreme isn't any better, always expecting sweetness and light and maybe year-round Cadburry Eggs. This is rather foolish, and after a childhood of hovering parents and adults, kids grow up to discover that life doesn't love them back.

Their boss doesn't appreciate their effort; they just want results.

Their spouse doesn't show affection like they used to; they just want you to remember what they told you to remember from ten minutes ago.

Their kids often are affectionate, but sometimes they scream and yell for no good reason.

And so it's tempting to become a glass-half-empty attitude. But if you go the way of glum Thomas, you won't be much better off. Expecting the worst really doesn't prepare you for the worst.

You'll expect your boss, spouse, kids to mistreat you and you'll come to enjoy self-pity. There's a certain story out there about the boy who is sick and home from school. He sits in bed miserable. He cheers himself up by thinking how sad everyone would be if he died. He imagines how sorry his mother would be for not giving him an extra dessert. He imagines how sorry his sister would be for yelling at him after he took apart her dollhouse, which he meant to put back together. They'll be sorry.

Hoping for the best and expecting the worst are not opposites; they are two sides of the same basic attitude. When we say, “It'll probably rain the whole week of our camping trip,” we don't want it to rain. We really want the sun to shine, but we are trying to protect ourselves against disappointment by expecting the worst.

This is perhaps what Thomas was trying to do. He was trying to protect himself from disappointment. And his sinful doubt lead him to give God some advice: “Well, I'll believe Jesus when see Jesus.” And wonder of wonders, Jesus took Thomas' advice. He met Thomas on that level, showing him His hands and the holes. And Jesus filled Thomas up with belief.

He does the same for us. He takes our efforts to protect ourselves that always fail and gives us Himself. We try to hope for the best on Monday and on Tuesday we are expecting the worst. Both of these attitudes are centered in ourselves. But Jesus drags us away from ourselves and draws us to Himself.

When you go home today, disconnect everything you see from yourself and see them as they really are: connected to Christ! Your home, your family, your work, your education, your laughter, your tears, all of it is from Him and for Him, the one not seen, yet believed! This is the way of faith under the cross.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Alleluia! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

* Adapted from Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel

The Lamb Lives!

Easter Morning

March 27, 2016

Mark 16:1-8

The Lamb Lives!

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

They weren't there for His beginning, for He has no beginning. He was created them in the beginning of this world. And since then, He has sent them to drop bombshells on His world.

I'm talking about Christ and His angels. The Lord sent an angel to the Virgin to tell her that she would carry God's Son in her womb. And nine months later, His angels announced His birth.

But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. (Luke 2 HCSB)

But just as at the beginning of His life, angels dropped the mysterious bombshell on confused people at His resurrection. Like the shepherds, the Marys and Salome weren't expecting what the angels told them.

“Don’t be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has been resurrected! He is not here! See the place where they put Him.” (Mark 16:6 HCSB)

Neither the shepherds or the people of Bethlehem or the Marys or the people of Jerusalem were expecting the news that Jesus was alive and well. But not because they hadn't been told.

Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; One will come from you to be ruler over Israel for Me. His origin is from antiquity, from eternity. (Micah 5:2 HCSB)

From then on Jesus began to point out to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day. (Matthew 16:21 HCSB)

Why had they been told that God's Son had to be born, die, and return to life? Because without His suffering and death, our sin would destroy us. We see this destruction all around us and yes, even inside of us.

But the Lamb has been sacrificed and is now alive again. Jesus' resurrection is the Life that makes all other life alive. And so the angels were sent to speak this life to us: the Holy Lamb of God who has no beginning or end, who sacrificed Himself to take away your sin, has come back to life just as He promised. So we no longer fear death. So we no longer fear life because He is alive and forgives our fear, our sin, our pride.

He is not in the tomb for the Lamb lives forever and ever!

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

The Lamb Quenches Our Thirst

Maundy Thursday

March 24, 2016

Mark 14:24

The Lamb Quenches Our Thirst

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The thirsty “they” in Psalm 107 is us.

They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region;

They did not find a way to an inhabited city.

They were hungry and thirsty;

Their soul fainted within them.

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;

He delivered them out of their distresses.

He led them also by a straight way,

To go to an inhabited city.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His loving-kindness,

And for His wonders to the sons of men!

For He has satisfied the thirsty soul,

And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good. (Psalm 107:4-9 NASB)

Our concept of physical thirst is limited. Since we have plenty of water, it's difficult to grasp what this psalm is saying about us. But anyone who has traveled in a desert knows thirst.

Once there was a soldier named Lawrence who led a band of warriors across a desert to surprise their enemy from a direction they didn't expect. Crossing this desert was thought impossible because there wasn't any water for days and days (which was why their enemy didn't even bother with lookouts in that direction). Crossing this desert was considered a suicide mission.

This is why Lawrence hatched this daring plan. But after days in the desert, his big idea didn't seem so hot. After days of burning sun and little to no water, you start seeing things. You start to become confused and think you see things that aren't real. We call them mirages.

We've never seen a “real” mirage, but we are surrounded by confusing things that seem to be real. Our mirages may sound like “God just wants me to be happy.” This idea that isn't real leads many to be so comfortable in our sins that we refuse to confess them as sins. Instead of God's Word as the authority for our souls, our feelings of happiness lead us around by our noses.

In turn we “happiness vampires” force others to scurry along to another mirage that sounds like “God doesn't want me to judge people.” And so we remain silent when we see sinners sinning away to their hearts' content. And mostly this means being silent about our own sins.

But the reality is that Jesus tells us to judge ourselves, so that we might see Him as our merciful Savior and then help others away from the mirages that they are dying from.

First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:5 NASB)

Lawrence made it to enemy camp in Aqaba, but not before saving a man's life in the desert. The man had fallen behind and had no hope of survival. But Lawrence went back for him and found him and gave him water. Quite a savior, though if we are believe the myth of the movie, Lawrence went a bit mad, a bit crazy, thinking of himself as an actual living messiah.

Dear eternal friends, the true Messiah has found us, dying of thirst in the deserted world. He finds us, He bathes us in water, and He gives us something to drink. And that something is His own Word and His own blood.

Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” (John 7:37 NASB)

Therefore, thus says the Lord God,

“Behold, My servants will eat . . .

Behold, My servants will drink . . .

Behold, My servants will rejoice . . .

Behold, My servants will shout joyfully with a glad heart” (Isaiah 65:13,14 NASB)

And Jesus said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant which is poured out on behalf of many.” (Mark 14:24 LJB)

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

The Lamb Rides Forth Quietly on a Donkey

Palm Sunday

March 20, 2016

Matthew 21:1-17

The Lamb Rides Forth Quietly on a Donkey

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the Lamb of God who went forth to die for our sins and today He is riding on a donkey.

And He didn't say anything.

This might seem strange to us because this would seem like the perfect time to pause and preach and teach to the crowds. You can't buy publicity like this. And if this had been anyone else, we might have said that He had wasted an opportunity to preach the Gospel.

But this is Jesus, the Lamb. He never misses anything.

The purpose of this procession was to show the world that He is the King of Kings and the Son of David. He is the One who comes in the name of the Lord. This royal Son of David was the Lord's chosen One who would be sacrificed to make atonement for all sinners. The prophet Isaiah predicted about Jesus:

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He did not open His mouth;

Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,

And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,

So He did not open His mouth. (Isaiah 53:7 NASB)

And John the Forerunner, 700 years after Isaiah's prophecy, pointed right at Jesus and said:

Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

For three years God's Lamb had traveled all across the Holy Land. He spoke and taught publicly for all three years. The only times He had to hide Himself when the mob wanted to grab Him bodily and shove Him onto a royal throne or when they tried to throw big rocks at His face to kill Him.

But now the Lamb of God wanted the crowds in Jerusalem to lay their eyes on Him. He wanted them to know exactly who they were going to nail to a tree in few days' time. He wantd them to see the Lamb quietly riding on a donkey.

But in a way He didn't need to speak; the crowds spoke for Him. They provided the commentary for the parade as they shouted the sermon:

Hosanna to the Son of David;

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord;

Hosanna in the highest! (Matthew 21:9)

Angels had sung to the shepherds who tending their sheep in the fields nearby to Jesus' birth, and now the crowds were bookending that hymn of praise. Even though many in the chorus that Sunday did not grasp what they were saying, their shouts are still true.

This is the Lamb who rides on a donkey. He is our merciful King who laid down His life for us.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21